Where Dallas Goes to Play: THE TOP SPOTS

A SECOND HOME CAN MEAN A RUSTIC LAKE CABIN, A SPRAWLING ranch house, a beach condo or even a yacht that sleeps eight. For (he past 15 years, longtime radio personality Ron Chapman has escaped to a small ranch near Palmer in Ennis County. ’”It’s nothing but acreage and a manufactured house, but that’s where I spend most weekends and much of the summer,” he says. “That’s where my mind is at rest.”

Actress Janine Turner has an Airstream trailer on her ranch near Denton, complete with longhorns and horses. Sparky and Dian Moore own a home on Lake Palestine in an area with such elaborate “cabins” that it might be dubbed “Highland Park on the Lake.” Restaurateur Gene Street and his wife, Leisa, have renovated an old house on Salado Creek in the historical town of Salado, north of Ausiin; an elaborate treehouse on the property gives their kids a spot for sleeping outside on summer nights.

Steve and Linda Ivy head to their log house (built in 1841, making it one of the oldest structures in Texas) at Conejo Ranch on the Brazos River near Glen Rose,

The key : The perfect home away from home, although the accom-modations may be backwoods primitive or ultra-deluxe, is a refuge against the increasingly hectic pace of the world. Especially if there’s no CNN.

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND: WFAA-Channel 8 news anchor Tracy Rowlett heads to a condo on South Padre Island. “It’s not Hawaii, and we don’t expect it to be,” he says, “but it’s very Texas. It’s where we can put our feet up, watch the sun set, and relax.” Others who share a South Padre Island condo include defense attorney Kevin Clancy and Dallas Morning News columnists John Anders and Helen Bryant.

CEDAR CREEK LAKE: Great for jet skis and water-skiing. Cedar Creek Lake has long been popular because it’s only 50 miles southeast of Dallas. Infertility specialist Mike Putman and his wife, Eleanor, own a large 3-bedroom house on the lake. Others who decamp to Cedar Creek when the weather turns warm: Terminix owner Mike Terry and his wife. Melissa: PR pro Ted Ingersoll and his advertising exec wife. Jean; real estate broker Rick Gray; oilman Tom Cabe; State Sen. John Carona: John and Eileen Howie: event producer Bob Townsend and his wife, Missy; and OB-GYN Dr. Robert Brannon, who owns a peninsula on the lake.

LAKE CYPRESS SPRINGS: In East Texas, between Mount Vernon and Sulphur Springs, is a lake where the ducks probably outnumber the humans. Though not large in size, the lake is private and is becoming popular among the young social set, including Staubach Company exec Chris Maguire and his wife, Kelli; importer Mike Moussa and his wife, Michelle; and CareSelect Group Inc. s Jim Skillman and his wife. Kelly: attorney Ray Cane and his wife. Mem: and real estate broker Gil Besing and his wife, Trisha.

THE HILL COUNTRY: Lakeway on Lake Travis near Austin is a second home to Liener and Caria Temerlin, Richard and Billie Gump. and Richard and Diana Gump Jr.

LAKE TEXOMA: Ross Perot Sr. owns a compound on the Texas side of this lake, straight up North Central Expressway (U.S. 75) north of Sherman on the Texas-Oklahoma border. (Perot infuriated lake residents a few years ago when he tried to put in a heliport.) Others with lake houses at Texoma include Don and Julie Ingram.

On the west side of the Preston penisula, not far from Perot’s hideaway, is Preston Forest, a gated community with 45 sites for homes ranging in size from 15,000 to 20,000 square feet and selling for $150.000 to $1 million.

Lake Texoma is one of the tew lakes in Texas large enough and deep enough for yachts. At the exclusive Loe’s Highport Marina, the monthly slip payments are higher than monthly dues at most country clubs; many of the yachts cost more than the average M Street bungalow and can go as high as $1 million.

Adleta & Poston Realtor Pete Livingston has been going to Lake Texoma since he was 4 years old; he now keeps seven boats there, including a 1996 45-tbot Carver with three bedrooms. “My son is 9 years old, and fishing is the most important thing in the world to him right now,” he says. “It’s great therapy for the kids, and it doesn’t get more private than pulling your boat into a deserted cove.” Others who keep their boats at Texoma are Jefferies & Company brokers Jack Tierney and Doc Hedreen: attorney Bill Hayner and his wife. Susan; and Textron-Bell Helicopter exec Dan McCary.

Criminal defense attorney Doug Mulder rents a house for a few months in Carmel, Calif. Artist David Bates heads to the Florida panhandle (the “’Redneck Riviera). Former Dallas Mayor Steve Bartlett loves Red River, N.M. “It’s cowboy cool,” he says.

Henry S. and Juanita Miller Jr. spend much of the summer at their apartment in Paris.

Once you hit Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the possibilities are endless. The most popular:

SANTA FE: Ben and Rosemary Briggs have a place in the Casa de San Juan development above the Santa Fe Opera. Writer/jewelry designer Dian Malouf and her lax attorney husband. Don, own a 175-year-old adobe on Canyon Road, the oldest road in America. not far from the downtown square. Others include developer Vincent Carrozza and his wife. Ann: Susie and Gary Hutchison; Terry and Janie Perkins: Stanley and Linda Marcus: Duncan and Elizabeth Boeckman: Susan and Vance Campbell Jr.: Elizabeth and Jay Smith; and Chuck and Mary Kehoe.

COLORADO: George Underwood III goes to Arrowhead in Edwards, 17 miles west of Vail, “We’ve gone for 10 years for the cool weather, biking, hiking, fishing and golf,” he says. Mary Frances La Coke Brown has a home in Estes Park. Literary agent Jan Miller has a second home in the Rockies but declined to name the town. Margaret Hunt Hill and her clan retreat to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. Bill and Linda Gibbons also have a place in Colorado Springs. Plastic surgeon Dr. Jack Gunter and his wife, Deborah, head to Vail, but only during the winter. “Since Dallas is empty in the summer, that’s when people want their plastic surgery,” Gunter says.

LA JOUA, CALIF.: This pricey coastal enclave is the summer home of a small but loyal group of Dallas residents, including Jeremy and Nancy Halbreich, Steve and Anne Rooth, Jerry and Gene Jones, Bob and Margaret Folsom, and the Strauss clan (Annette. Ted, Bob, Helen. Rick and Diana). Society maven Nancy Ann Smith Chandler has a home in nearby Rancho Santa Fe (yes, that Rancho Santa Fe).

MONTANA: Topsy Tail enterpreneur Tomima Edmark and her husband go to Mountain Sky Ranch “for the fly fishing and to commune with nature,” Edmark says. “It is very safe for the kids. They can run around in wide-open spaces and build forts.”

Attorney Harry “Buzz” Crutcher and his wife, Carolyn, developed the Grouse Mountain Lodge in Whitefish, a popular destination for many Dallas folks; among them, Patty and Bob Hayes. Mary Stewart and Jim Ramsey, and banker Harvey Mitchell and his wife, Joyce. Former Dallas Cowboys player Pat Donovan and oilman Ray Hunt are developing in the Whitefish area a Tom Fazio-designed golf course and upscale residential community sure to attract even more Texans.

In the southern part of the state along the Madison River-one of the best trout streams in the country-is a little town called Ennis. Former City Council member Jerry Bartos owns a 25-acre ranch outside the city he calls The Last Best Place.

Ennis is also home to The Channels, an exclusive fishing club on an 1,800-acre ranch that was formed 12 or 13 years ago by a groupof51 people-48 of them from Dallas. Making up the nucleus of the group are members of the Dallas Salesmanship Club. Members-such as Pete Baldwin. Buck Lyon, and Deedie and Rusty Rose-own a share of the ranch and have the use of about 20 log cabins on the property.

NANTUCKET: “We rent a house in Nantucket in the summer,” says restaurateur Phil Cobb. He and his wife. Janet, got married there three years ago. “It’s historically well-preserved and very safe,” Cobb says. “My 11 -year-old daughter can go wherever she wants, and I don’t worry.” This East Coast island resort also is a summer haven to Broadway producer/catalog king Roger Horchow and his wife, Carolyn; Jeff and Nancy Marcus; investor Doug Wheat and his wife. Laura; Rand and Karen Watkins; George and Christine Spencer; and Cissy and Plack Carr Jr.

The Fort Worth contingent includes Pat and Jack Schutts. Each August, Tom Taylor, whose company manages the Bass family fortune, moves with his wife, Ann, his traders, analysts, computers and fax machines to Nantucket.